


Red Universe

by jaded_aloofness



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27127840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaded_aloofness/pseuds/jaded_aloofness
Summary: AKA Umbrella Academy.. but with a satan-worshipping cult.*Does not follow the UA timeline!
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey ya'll so this is my first fanfic from a while ago (that I never posted lmao), so any constructive criticism + feedback is appreciated :))

“Tuna?”

Vanya scours the mess of trash piles that populate the narrow alleyway. At the foot of a bulging black trash bag that stinks of something sour was a relatively clean cardboard box. Inside is a single soft blanket and an empty tin of cat food. 

Vanya carefully takes the tin and disposes it in a nearby pile. She crouches in a squat, sighing.

Did someone pick her up?  
Take her home? Somewhere warm and safe?

She thought of the gray-white striped tabby kitten. All soft paws and warm head nudges. Tuna deserved a better than a dilapidated, smelly alleyway anyway. Suddenly, she felt the loneliness of the empty space between the moldy, greased stained walls. The silence echoed painfully in her ears. She felt the darkness loom behind her. Darkness and oddly enough, something else. 

She peers down the unlit alley. There is no discernable movement.  
Nothing but shadows playing silly tricks on the mind, her logic told her.  
The mind plays tricks with your eyes. Fear is fickle. 

Vanya tucks the can of tuna into her pack and slings it across her shoulders. Yet, that didn’t stop a shiver from running down her spine. She swears she can feel something. A cold aura. The feeling of another person taking up air in an empty space. Air filled with another person’s breath. 

She gets up abruptly and turns to the exit.  
One foot in front of another.  
Just keep walking. 

She focuses her eyes on the glaring white street lights just ahead of her. The crunch of gravel under her feet pushes her on, her adrenaline spiking. 

Count your steps.  
One. Two.

Eyes burn holes into her back.

One. Two.

The hairs on her neck stand on edge.

One. Two.

Every cell in her body was sounding alarm bells. Vanya was highly aware that the only thing she could hear was the thump of her heart against her rib cages. 

Vanya steps into the bright halo of light under the nearest street lamp. She chuckles, and shakes her head, laughing at herself. I… really just scared myself for nothing.

She releases a long breath. She hadn’t realized she had been holding it. Turning on her heel she sets course back to her apartment. Her mind drifts back to Tuna. The small furry fuzzball of energy. Her impossibly large, glittery eyes. She imagines a warm, soft home for her with kids to play with and parents to care for her. 

As Vanya turns the corner to her apartment, a black gloved hand clamps down over her mouth.

She doesn’t have the chance to scream.


	2. Chapter two: Vanya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA the one where Vanya almost gets murdered in a dark and smelly alley.

“MHHM!!”

The hooded, masked man holds his hand over her mouth with an iron grip. She struggles, swinging uselessly at his hands in a desperate attempt to break free. 

Her clammy fingers scour his face for a weak spot. The eyes. The man makes a noise, somewhere between a growl and a grunt. She feels his grip loosen then tighten with vengeance around her throat. Her eyes burn from the salty tears welling up and the blood rushing to her head makes it pound painfully. It feels like her head might spontaneously pop like a balloon.   
Her pack hits the ground with a clatter. The can of tuna rolls away silently. 

Vanya wonders if this is it. This is how it ends. In the shadow of an alley in the dank underbelly of the city. She can already see the headlines read, “Woman Identified as the Seventh Child from the Umbrella Academy Found Dead in Gutter”. As if she would even make a headline. Vanya, the plain, ordinary, unwanted, and forgotten sibling of the esteemed Umbrella Academy. 

She chokes out a laugh. Vanya feels her strength draining away with every second the man’s chokehold stays. Her arms slowly fall limp to her sides. 

...  
She remembers the crimson mask of the Red. She remembers what they had said. Vanya had placed her right hand on a weathered leather tome and raised her left hand. The Oath. Vanya had repeated the words, letting the beautiful prose wash over her. Cleansing her. The baptism she had been yearning for. A renewal, the shedding of an old skin and the birth of a new. The liquid had been viscous, warm, and thick. The stench had been nearly unbearable, but she had been careful to keep her face neutral and her body relaxed. She was officially a Red. 

Delete: [A devout new member to the mysterious non-violent group that believed their search for The Chosen was the key to purifying the world.]  
…

The masked man hits her with a powerful undercut to the stomach. Vanya gasps and wheezes for air. She stumbles, using the wall to steady her. 

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Give me the money and you can go.”

His stare is ice-cold. He holds out one black leather covered hand expectantly.

Taking a shuddering breath, Vanya tries to speak clearly and with authority. Yet, her throat was tender and her voice came out weak and shaky. 

“I- I don’t- I don’t know what you mean. I don’t owe you any money, I swear!”

Forcing herself to meet the man’s eyes she says, 

“You’ve gotta believe me.”

The masked man lowers his hand and sighs. 

“Guess we’re doing this the hard way.”

“Nonono, you’ve got the wrong per-”

The punch stops her mid-sentence. The force sends her flying into a nearby trash can. On the ground, she folds into herself. In fetal position, she braces herself for the next blows. Each kick seems to hurt exponentially more than the last. It seems to never end. Vanya is convinced that each crushing kick to her exposed back will be her last. But it isn’t. 

...  
Then she remembers Jule’s voice. Fellow Red. Talented musician. An even better friend. The person she could always rely on, and probably the only person who would miss when she passed on.   
Ah. Jule. Her beautiful, infectious laugh. Eyes that never missed a single shoulder shrug, frown, or furrowed brow. A sarcastic wit, and silver tongue that seemed to always keep Vanya on her toes and her stomach cramped with laughter. 

“You know… Maybe you just haven’t found it yet.”

Vanya turns away from her sheet music to get a look at her, “What?”

“I’m serious,” Jule says sidling a bit closer to her. Blowing a brown curl from her eyes, she rests her chin on the head of her violin. “You know- maybe you just haven’t found the right teacher.”

Her eyes glint mischievously, the white light brings out the chestnut brown in them. No thanks to the bright overhead lights on the theater floor. Vanya peels her gaze away and rolls her eyes.

“Drop it JJ, it isn’t like searching for buried treasure,” Vanya sighs, “I’ve been told from basically the time I was born that I was-“

Jule fills in for her monotonously, “completely ordinary. Yes, you’ve said that like more times than I can count. Seriously sometimes I think you're manifesting it within yourself, or that you’ve grown comfortable with the label or something.”

Vanya chuckles and turns back to her stand. Readjusting her violin, she readjusts to find the perfect nook on her shoulder. She mutters to Jule and to herself, “There is no power to be found.”

Jule responds by abandoning her violin and throwing her arm over her face dramatically, as if to say ‘woe is me’.

...

Vanya snaps back into reality. Her cheek feels cold against the concrete floor. She feels a dull thud of a weight hit the concrete. A black leather gloved hand enters her vision. It lays limp. The masked man.  
Then warm hands are on her shoulders. A low voice is speaking urgently but it sounds millions of miles away. 

Klaus slaps her face lightly,   
“Vanya- hey - Vanya can you hear me? You okay?”


End file.
